Steve Conrad, San Clemente real estate agent, displays the lobster he caught off San Clemente. COURTESY OF STEVE CONRAD

Realtor Steve Conrad of San Clemente must’ve been bug-eyed when he spotted this 11½-pound lobster in water about 10 feet deep off San Clemente on opening night of lobster season.

It was so big that he needed help bagging it. “I had to tackle it underwater and have it grab onto me so I would not lose it,” he said. “I have lost big lobster before, trying to grab with one hand. This is the biggest I’ve caught. The best-eating part of this bug were the legs.”

Asked if he considered setting it free because it was big, old and likely tough, Conrad said he did think of throwing it back or selling it to John’s Fish Market in Dana Point. “But you know what?” he said. “It’s a blessing from the ocean and I have a big family to feed. Only a lobster diver that dives in the middle of the night in the bitter cold will understand. The tail is about six tails of normal lobsters. All of the meat was eaten and enjoyed.”

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